UMD Scanning Electron Microscopy Laboratory

EBSD: HKL NordlysII

The HKL NordlysII electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) system is attached to the SEM and allows for the observation of the crystallographic structure and orientation of crystalline materials. The system is able to collect and analyze electron diffraction data from an array of points on the sample and assemble that data into a map showing the relative orientation of adjacent crystals within a sample. This capability allows for the identification of phases based on chemical composition and crystalline structure. EBSD is also used to determine how a material has responded (deformed) to stresses that have been applied to the material. EBSD data can be collected at the same time as EDS data and the two data sets can be merged to show the crystallographic and chemical variability in a sample. This technique is also extremely useful as a phase identification (discrimination) tool for small particles. We have access to a database of thousands of crystalline phases and using EDS data to help narrow the possible phases EBSD Using this tool, we can to accurately determine the phase present in a sample where other techniques (e.g. polarized light microscopy) may be limited due to the small size of particles.